ToC Generator

Do you want to enhance your PDF documents by adding a Table of Contents (TOC) dynamically? Aspose.PDF for .NET provides a powerful TocGenerator class that allows you to generate TOCs with ease. In this guide, we’ll walk through the basic steps to create a TOC in a PDF document using Aspose.PDF, covering the creation of a TocGenerator object, adding input/output paths, and running the TOC generation process.

Prerequisites

You will need the following:

• Visual Studio 2019 or later
• Aspose.PDF for .NET 24.1 or later
• A sample PDF file

Additionally, familiarize yourself with the TocOptions class and its functionalities. Detailed information can be found in the Aspose.PDF API Reference.

Now, let’s dive into the code and explore how to generate a Table of Contents for your PDF document.

Code Walkthrough

We will use TocGeneratorDemo class with a Run method do demonstrate how to create ToC. Let’s break down the key steps:

using Aspose.Pdf.Plugins;

namespace AsposePluginsNet8.Documentation
{
    internal static class TocGeneratorDemo
    {
        private const string PathForSamples = @"C:\Samples\";

        // Runs the TOC generation demo.
        internal static void Run()
        {
            // Create a new instance of the TocGenerator class.
            TocGenerator generator = new();

            // Create a new instance of the TocOptions class.
            TocOptions options = new();
            // Add the input and output paths to the TocOptions.
            options.AddInput(new FileDataSource(Path.Combine(PathForSamples, "sample.pdf")));
            options.AddOutput(new FileDataSource(Path.Combine(PathForSamples, "sample_toc.pdf")));

            // Process the TOC generation and get the result container.
            var resultContainer = generator.Process(options);

            // Get the result from the result container.
            var result = resultContainer.ResultCollection[0];

            // Print the result to the console.
            Console.WriteLine(result);
        }
    }
}

1. Create a TocGenerator Object

The code begins by creating a new instance of the TocGenerator class. This class provides methods to generate TOCs for PDF documents.

TocGenerator generator = new();

2. Create TocOptions

Next, a new instance of the TocOptions class is created to configure the TOC generation process. Input and output file paths are added to the options.

TocOptions options = new();
options.AddInput(new FileDataSource(Path.Combine(PathForSamples, "sample.pdf")));
options.AddOutput(new FileDataSource(Path.Combine(PathForSamples, "sample_toc.pdf")));

3. Run TOC Generation Process

The Process method is then called on the TocGenerator object, passing the configured options. The result container holds the generated TOC, and it is printed to the console.

var resultContainer = generator.Process(options);
var result = resultContainer.ResultCollection[0];
Console.WriteLine(result);